Heart of Diamond
by Iratus Carnifex
Summary: Natsu Diamere has been alone for a long time. He was raised by his moth the Crystal Dragon in the far northern mountains. His magic requires him to stay focused lest he cause injuries to the ones he cares about, However when one special Red-Head begins to break his barriers it sends him into turmoil.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Guys Ira is here with a new story, been a while due to some personal things popping up just know that I am A OK and hoping to get back into the stride of my stories, ummmm... just a bit of warning here this story is going to be a bit more...how to put this. Uh Raw? Yeah Emotionally Raw than my others. This story is kind of one that came to me in a dark time and It was good but the emotions in it for me are a bit of a tough thing so please just bear with me on this alright guys :)**

**Hope you enjoy- Ira**

**DISCLAIMER: THIS WILL BE SAID ONCE BECAUSE I WANT TO WRITE MY STORY NOT DISCLAIMERS- I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL**

Natsu Diamere glared ahead of him at carnage wreaked upon the poor town he was passing through. This is why he did his job. The whole town was in a ruin, burning homes Surrounded Natsu on all sides their orange flames flickering greedily at the dry timber of the once proud standing homes. The smell of acrid burning flesh hung in the air all around him and the ash was so thick it could have been fog. Natsu has been doing this for years now and he had only seen this kind of carnage once before. Sniffing the air Natsu gagged back the bile reaching up the back of his throat and sniffled a bit before forcing his way through all of wreckage. This man was relentless, wherever he went death and despair followed and Natsu would never forgive him for what he did. Natsu rounded the barely visible street corner into the center of the town and froze. Not a whole lot of things made Natsu go rigid in shock and fear, but what he saw before him was unlike anything he had ever witnessed in his travels.

All the Townspeople where gutted like speared fish on large pikes and set facing the sky. Some of the bodies where charred and broken while others were astonishingly clean but all of them were dead. Natsu couldn't hold it in anymore and lifting his mask from place turned and emptied his stomach onto the ash covered cobblestone path. Once his composure returned Natsu grimaced darkly and forged his way through the center of the town. Occasionally one of the drifting hands of the impaled would clutch at his cloak and he would recoil quickly wanting to avoid any contact with the poor souls. Natsu neared the end of the square and sighed in relief but his eyes widened and he froze. He thought it couldn't get any worse than it already was but hell was he wrong.

Children. Dozens of them. Their eyes lifeless and broken, their last facial expressions still plastered on their faces as they were impaled onto the fountain. Some clutched the spears thrust into their guts while others just hung. Natsu felt his hands begin to shake, whether out of rage or grief he did not know. Natsu had always had a soft spot for children. Normally the quiet and brooding man held to his own, but whenever a child approached him he would take all the time in the world to make the young ones day better. Seeing one of the most precious things in the world to Natsu treated this way affected him in unmentionable ways. He tugged his hood lower so it covered most of the images before him and turned quickly and began to sprint out of the village. This man was evil, an abomination and Natsu would kill him.

Natsu ran through the rest of the town looking only down at his feet the entire time. He had seen enough of this god forsaken place to know what it looked like now. As Natsu passed through the exit of the burning village he felt the heat recede from his back and he slowly stopped his run. Natsu took a deep breath and turned his face back to the town before raising his hands and casting a spell. Large Magic circles grew from the palms of his hand and began to glow a deep blue color, the ground shook heavily as it began to rip open all around the town. Soon enough large Crystals exploded from the split ground and encased the burning town in an eternal tomb. Natsu grimaced one more time before lowering his hands. He had made sure that no one else could see what he had seen. Wrapping his cloak tighter around himself Natsu turned and began his brisk walk again, however this time his hands were clenched tightly. His eyes glared out into the gloom and he made another oath to himself.

"I will find you Alazard, and then I will kill you"

" Erza dear would you come in here please I wish to speak with you" Master Makarov called from his office garnering for the attention of a certain Scarlet haired knight. Erza quickly rose from her table and proceeded to the masters office.

"You called Master?" She questioned a bit curious as to why she was summoned

"I did Erza, How is Lucy getting along?" He said acting interested but they both knew it was just the small talk before the real questions were fired. Erza grinned and responded.

"She is integrating quite well I would say, Her and Grey seem to get along astoundingly well"

"Good good" Makarov muttered quietly and stroked his tiny beard. He just sighed and continued on "You do know that is not why I asked you here right?"

"Of course"

"Good, Earlier today I recieved a request from the Magic Council" he said facing away from Erza. She rose her eyebrows slightly at the idea. If the Council was asking for assitance the matter must be dire indeed.

"What was the request may I ask?" she inquired

"They wish me to send you and two others to investigate a mishap in the northern regions of Fiore" He turned to face her his face unreadable as it examined her reaction "A town has been found and reported encased in Crystal". Erza's eyes widened and her fists clenched. Him again. She turned and quickly strode from the office extracting a sigh from the Master. Erza passed Grey and Lucy calling out their names loudly garnering no room for negotiation as she raced out the doors of the Guild hall. Her teeth were clenched tightly. For the past few months now several towns had been reported encased in unbreakable crystals. They did not know a description of the culprit but only that he was a rogue mage travelling the north. Recently though the reports had died down but now that they were back she fully intended to stop them with all the force she could muster.

"I'm Coming for you, Diamond King"


	2. A Chance Meeting

**Hey Everyone Ira here with the next Chapter to A Heart of Diamond. I did read all of the reviews and thank you very much. ****warriorzgiom**** I did see that after I posted it I had thought that I had separators between the parts but obviously I was incorrect thank you for calling me out on that! :) As per usual guys thanks for reading the story and any feedback is more than welcome! I enjoy reading what you guys have to say, and my stories are always slightly influenced by ideas that readers send my way so I do enjoy reading about what you guys think would be cool. Thanks again guys and have a good one! **

**\- IRA**

*Far North of Fiore*

Natsu stumbled through the tough blizzard that had come blowing in out of nowhere. He hated the cold which he had always thought was rather odd seeing as his magic had to do with crystals and diamonds which normally when found raw were cold. He just shook his head and leaned forward trying to push his way through the abandoned streets of the town he was planning on passing through but now seeing as this dragon cursed storm had blown in he had no choice but to stay overnight. He was only human after all.

Natsu followed the lights ahead of him until he finally managed to catch a glimpse of the taverns hanging notice sign. **The Scarlet Rose**. Huh an odd name, Natsu thought as he climbed up onto the deck of the small inn and nudged open the door finally free from the cold grasp of the winter's wind. The first thing that hit Natsu was the strong scent of alcohol which always managed to clear his sinus's. Scanning the room he noticed that without much surprise the inn was mostly empty. There were a few patrons here and there and a couple waitresses that were flirting around with a couple of grabby men in the corner, as well as a small band playing rather dull music for the patrons entertainment. Natsu just scoffed and shook his head, small town hicks never ceased to amaze him with their raw and vulgar ways, but what was he to judge having been raised by a dragon and all.

Natsu just tried to walk as inconspicuously as possible to the other end of the bar making sure his hood and mask were firmly in place all the while. He did not want attention, he would simply find the owner ask for a room and retire there for the night. As he reached the bar the presumed owner popped his head back up from behind the counter and raised an eyebrow at the bundled up man before speaking.

"Hello there sir, can I help you?" his voice was gruff and not unkind but holding a certain stern aspect in it. Natsu observed the man closely noticing the small wrinkles gathered around the corners of his eyes that showed how much he smiled and the natural tenderness he held in his gaze before relaxing a little bit in the mans presence. He was obviously a caring man and probably a father he would receive no trouble from him.

"Yes, I would like a room for one night" Natsu replied calmly

"Of course sir just let me go around back and register your name and find you a room, could I have a name to tie the room to please? We just like to keep track of who's were you know?" The man asked gruffly as he made his way to the back door.

"Natsu"

"Alright it'll only be a moment" the man replied before vanishing into the back. Natsu just turned around so he had a good view of the rest of the bar and leaned on his elbows examining the rest of the room. The place was quiet but that suited him just fine he proffered as little interaction between himself and other humans as possible. Natsu grimaced, people had always been cruel to him when he was little. Having looked different than most and having a natural talent for strong magic had always made him and a outsider. He had been beaten and abused more times than he could recount and simply because he was different than everyone else. Natsu had been forced to grow up faster than most would until one day out of fear and possibly jealousy the people of his village killed his mother and father and forced him out of the village, then not to long after he had been found by his mother. Natsu smiled fondly at the memories he had of her, she was powerful and intelligent and worth so much more to him than any human had ever been.

"Hey spook ya -hic- tryin'ta start some-hic-thing?" a loud voice broke Natsu out of his pondering. Looking up he noticed that while he had been distracted a rather bulky individual had made his way towards him. The fool had brown scruffy hair and a messy beard that was coated in what was obviously foam from multiple beers and had a nasty glint in his eye. Natsu hissed quietly between his teeth. Men like him pissed Natsu off.

"No" he replied curtly before moving his eyes off the man obviously intending to insult the drunkard who hadn't failed to notice.

"Eh?! You -hic- listen to me when i-hic-m talking to you!" the man shouted and moved forward and planted a finger in the middle of Natsu's chest. Natsu tensed and slowly returned his gaze to the finger holding itself in his bosom before slowly moving his gaze up to meet the drunks.

"You have five seconds to remove your finger from me before I take your whole arm off" he said quietly his voice dark and eyes glinting dangerously.

"Ha! Id like to see you try!" the man shouted defiantly

"5"

"Oooh spooky hooded guy gonna take me out"

"4"

"3"

"Guys he-hic-s counting down!"

"2"

"Counting do-hic-wn just like little old mommy!"

"1"

Natsu moved faster than any untrained eye could see. He dashed forward appearing behind the drunk and grasping his arm tightly before squeezing. The man screamed in pain and stumbled backwards his arm dangling at his side uselessly. Natsu reached forward in the blink of an eye and latched back onto the broken arm before his hands started to glow a dark blue and crystals started to snake up the mans arm and wrap onto his shoulder. Everyone stared eyes wide for a moment before the crystal cracked then shattered along with the mans arm leaving nothing but a stump in its place. The drunk stumbled back onto a table holding onto his now bleed stump and crying out in pain. Natsu turned around and saw the owner standing there his eyes wide with his key held in hand. Natsu stepped back to the bar took the key and nodded his head in thanks before quickly climbing the stairs up to his room. Once there he shut the door and let his head drop before removing his hood and mask and flopping into the bed. He sat staring at the ceiling letting his adrenaline drop down before he felt himself slowly drift off into the darkness of sleep.

**Downstairs in the Scarlet Rose**

Everyone stood stock still just observing the bleeding man before a couple of his friends retrieved him and moved him quickly into the back room. Suddenly the door slammed open revealing three people two of whom quickly ran inside and stood near the fire shivering and shedding frozen tears. The third slowly stepped forward her armor clanking with each step as she approached the now slightly recovered owner.

"A room for three please" she said sternly leaving no room for argument in the matter. The man just observed the womanly quickly before nodding.

"Name for registration ma'am?"

"Erza Scarlet"

"One second ma'am" the owner said before quickly stepping into the back. Erza turned and sweat dropped at Lucy and Happy over by the fire and Gray who stood by observing the two with a small amount of contempt. She then returned her gaze to the rest of the poorly lit inn. Not moments before they had stepped foot into the inn had she felt an enormous release of power unlike anything she had ever felt before. Her eyes saw nothing out of the normal and giving the room one last general sweep she turned and accepted the key from the owner and gestured to the rest of the party to head upstairs. As the moved through the halls to their room however Erza passed the neighboring room to theirs and froze.

The power she felt emitting from that room was the exact same she had experienced downstairs. She narrowed her eyes and turned to face the closed door. She reached out to open it then stopped. She gave a quiet sigh and retracted her arm. No matter how curious or suspicious she was it was still not appropriate to just barge into someones room like that. She just shook her head retiring to her room.

Just on the other side of the door the person residing there relaxed, the crystal blade that was primed to strike retracting back into his arm. The man returned to his bed were he laid for the rest of the night, keeping one ear open at all times.


	3. A Strange Alliance

**Hey there guys Ira here with the next chapter of Heart of Diamond! So last chapter I got a loaaad of reviews and they were all fantastic thank you guys so much for your support, but I also got a few questions so this beggining part is going to respond to some of the more concerning and rather good reviews this chapter to stay tuned if you want to read those if you dont. Well then you suck. Naw just kidding your amazing ;D**

**EndlessChains: Your review meant a lot to me dude. I woke up that morning and went to the website to kinda browse other stories and check out reviews and when I opened up my review box I saw yours there and read it like five times. You have no idea how wonderful the feeling is you get when someone leaves you a review like that so bassically what Im trying to say here is thanks dude :) (Also as to the chapter length, I do plan on making it longer in the future but for now I have decided that shorter fits better with my daily schedule etc.)**

**WolfGaming: Thank you for the compliment man :) As to your question about the lack of Natsu's description I was actually kind of hoping someone asked that question. If you havn't noticed already you will now. The lack of description to Natsu's appearence is in fact on purpose, if you remember I said how his appearence affected how people treated him in the past to the plan was to have a big reveal about it and have it affect a large part of the story. Glad you caught that so I could explain it better :)**

**Karlos1234ify: I might be a bit late but...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :D**

**\- IRA **

Erza sat quietly in the back left corner of the inn with a cup of coffee in her hand staring out the window. She had Happy curled up in her lap snoozing away the early morning. Erza's hazel eyes followed the movement of the rising sun in the east as it crested the tops of the trees in the nearby forest. It was morning, very early morning. Erza had a hard time sleeping last night.

She took a another small sip of her coffee. Back when she was newly released from the Tower of Heaven by Jellal Erza couldnt sleep. She would go without out sleep for days on end, afraid of the terrible nightmares and dreams that would haunt her sleep until she eventually would pass out of exhaustion. Even then she could only stand the nightmares for a short amount of time before gasping awake in a cold sweat, like she had this morning.

Erza frowned slightly eyes still focused out the window. It had been many years since she had a nightmare like the one that had woken her last night. It wasn't of the tower exactly but...that power she had felt the night before, it wasn't exactly like Jellals but it was dang near on the same catagory. She gritted her teeth before tearing her eyes away from the rising sun and scanning the room one more time. Last night she had moved past a closed door that was next to her and the others room and felt a intense aura of power emitting from it. She had almost busted through the door to find out who it was but before she did she stopped herself. It would have been rather rude not to mention quite illegal and she had enough to deal wit has is.

After waking up in a gruesome fashion this morning Erza decided she would camp out the inn until she saw the person with the large aura walk out. She assumed that they would be down here if not leaving today and she would be here when they were. A flash of brown caught Erza's eyes and she squinted slightly focusing in on a masked man. He woar a long and ragged looking brown waistcoat that tapered off slightly at the waist before flaring out largely at the bottoms. He had a large hood covering his hair and eyes and wore a brown mask firmly tucked up over his nose and mouth. The man appeared to be wearing a tight black tank top with brown cargo pants and black combat boots. His hands were covered in brown studded leather gloves that had cut off fingers.

The most noticeble thing about the stranger however was not so much his appearance but the muffled raw power flowing out from around him. Erza narrowed her vision. The man was obviously powerful and wasn't to good at hiding it from other mages, that or he just didn't expect to encounter any here. Either way there was no mistaking the power she had felt last night. The man stopped and leaned on the counter waiting for his payment to get put away so he could leave and scanned the room slowly. His head moved only slightly but just enough to see that the man could obviously see her glaring his way. The two stood still for a moment neither acting until the owner returned with a slightly fearful glint in his eye and nodded to the cloaked man releasing him from the inn. The cloaked man picked up his gear and exited with building setting a brisk pace.

"E-e-eh Jake thats the guy that took off Gerard's arm last night" Erza heard one of the few patrons whisper near her. Her eyes widened slightly before her nostrils flared and she stood up suddenly spilling a now whining Happy onto the floor.

"Happy wake the others and tell them to find me, I'm going after that man" Erza hissed through clenched teeth and set off in pursuit of the cloaked man. She quickly ran out the front doors of the inn ignoring the complaining owner and scanned the mostly empty dirt roads that lead out of the small town. Looking to the right she could see the rapidly retreating figure of the mans back and requiped a sword. Normally she would have her doubts about charging an unawares enemy, espcially when they had their back turned but this man had harmed an innocent townsman and he wouldn't get away with it. Besides with his enormous amount of power she highly doubted she could win in a fair fight.

Erza knew she should wait for the others but this was one of the rare times her emotions got the better of her logic and as she took a deep breath Erza shifted her feet. Glaring at the mans back Erza pushed off and charged.

**With Natsu**

Natsu shook his head slightly as he walked away from that god awful inn. Something about that woman he had seen inside sparked a memory, one long locked away and it was bothering him. Normally Natsu would have no problem with this sort of thing but it wasn't so much her appearence as the glint of suspicion and determination in her eyes that had triggered one of his many locked memories.

Natsu just sighed and leaned his head back slightly uncovering his nose with his mask. It didn't matter now anyway, he was leaving this wretched town and he highly doubted that he would be back any time soon. Taking a deep breath through his nose Natsu took in all the different scents leaking through the air.

There was the scent of pine and sap floating in from the west were the forest was, along with those smells the scent of many kinds of different animals came as well. Natsu had always loved the smell of forests, it was earthy and natural and reminded him a bit of home. After the forest scent had entered his nose he was assaulted by all the typical smells of a small farming town. Cow dung, booze, unwashed knickers the lot of it. Of course this wasn't the most enjoyable of smells and Natsu reacted likewise, wrinkling his nose up in disgust. However the last scent that assailed his nostrils wasn't something he often smelled. It was fruity and sweet, much like the taste of strawberrys dipped in sugar. Natsu wrinkled his brow in confusion, actually now that he thought about it the scent was getting stronger by the second. Suddenly Natsu's ears twitched as he picked up the sound of something launching through the air at an intense speed.

Instinct kicked in as Natsu quickly dropped his gear and desperately rolled out of the way of whatever was hurtling at him. rolling along the dirt road and kicking up dust in his wake Natsu quickly used his momentum to spin himself back up to his feet and readied his body for the next strike. Looking up Natsu's eyes widened slightly in suprise. It was that red-head from earlier! she now wore a strange type of revealing lepeord skin armor. Natsu simply raised his eyebrow a bit suprised that she would pick such a revealing piece of equipment, but after he got over his initial suprise his eyes wandered towards the dangerously sharp sword she held in her right hand.

"Usually one would announce their reason for attacking a stranger on the road, that is of course unless your a bandit, which I highly doubt" Natsu called out his voice laced a bit with confusion and a rather evident hint of irritation.

"That man in the inn, you tore off his arm, that is unnaceptable" The woman responded her voice strong and unyeilding pleasently surprising Natsu.

Natsu just shrugged before smiling wickedly under his mask "He touched me, I didn't want to be touched, I gave him a fair warning"

"That does not excuse you taking his arm" The woman replied angrily her eyes flaring with burning fury

Natsu just shrugged again "Then you can try and take me in, but I will warn you, I'm out of your league"

"Tch" the woman replied before quickly pushing herself off the ground at blinding speeds surprising Natsu for a second before he barely managed to dodge the womans strike. Fast. He thought before noticing the small amount of magic leaking from the armor into the womans own aura. He smiled, so the armor was increasing her movement, and attack speed. Then he would just have to move faster. Switching his feet so that they planted themselves firmly in the ground Natsu charged the woman at speeds even faster than her own making her eyes widen "**Diamond Hammer" **Natsu chanted as his arm became coated in diamond and he swiped his now coated arm at the woman with as much strength as he could muster without killing the woman. He was fighting her sure, but that didn't mean he wanted her dead. The blow connected with her raised sword sending her tumbling backwards skipping along the road before finally rolling to a stop. She managed to push herself up off the ground shakily before raising her sword once more.

"Your armor increases your attack speed and movement speed but it seems like while it does that it also drains your defense. Useful yes but your lucky that I didn't actually want to kill you otherwise you would be dead" Natsu called out the woman. He didn't intend for it to be mocking, in fact he was meaning for it to be more of...a lesson.

"Who are you" the woman hissed through clenched teeth, it sounded more like a demand than a question to Natsu.

"I get called a lot of things, sometimes bastard, many times a bitch however unpleasent that is, I also have a name given to me by the locals though I doubt your one of them" Natsu said relaxing his stance a bit realizing that she wasn't in any condition to launch another attack on his "But you can call me Diamere" he finished. The woman just nodded before dropping lower into her stance.

"My name is Erza Scarlet, also known as Titania and I am a part of Fairy Tail" she replied sternly with a bit more caution in her voice now. Natsu's eyes widened once again. He had heard tales of the strong southern guild of Fairy Tail. Many of their large amount of descrution caused to the general populace but mainly of Titania. He smiled, she was not weak but she wasn't ready for this fight. That was certain.

"Well then Titania" Natsu said with no hostility in his tone "I do n-" he was cut off by the crushing weight of an ice hammer coming down on his back. God damn that hurt Natsu thought as he slowly stood up shrugging off all the broken ice from his now sore back.

"Grey!" he heard Erza shout

"Yo Erza! I got him!" the triuphent shout of a man called out through the dust haze.

"Are you sure you got him though" A slightly less confident female voice said

"Of course he did, Grey had a clear shot!" An exetremely high pitched and rather irratating voice responded.

"Yeah Lucy listen to Happy!" Grey said again. Natsu slowly felt himself losing control of his emotions but quickly reigned them back in. No matter how cocky this lot of idiots was they were not someone he wanted to kill. The dust slowly began to clear and Natsu just sighed before using some of his energy to send out of shockwave of magic clearing out the remained dust cloud revealing his hunched form as he slowly straightened out his back popping slightly with each movement.

"Huh.." an astonished Grey muttered "But, that should have sent him into unconciousness, no one has survived a direct hit from my magic like that and remained able to stand"

Natsu didn't respond and leaned down slowly to pick up a rather large chunk of Ice that was laying around the crater he was standing in before sniffing it. He supposed that Ice Crystals were technically a type of crystal and it didn't smell too bad. Shrugging Natsu took a large bite out of the crystal. He ignored all the shocked gasps and sighed as he felt magic flow back through him and slowly heal the bruises on his back. Man that felt good.

"Tch, ill just have to hit him harder this time" Natsu heard Grey say loudly before he heard him launch himself in Natsu's direction. Natsu just sighed and reached out one hand grabbing a hold of Grey's fist stopping him mid charge before turning his hooded face and looking at the idiot.

"You need to relax ice-boy, you can't fight me I'm way out of any of your leagues" Natsu said calmly trying to keep his anger in check. Grey just snorted and rocketed out his other fist connecting with Natsu's sternum. Natsu stumbled back a few feet before standing stock still. Fuck it, this kid has it coming to him. Natsu moved faster than any of them but Erza could see. Quickly reaching out and grabbing a hold of Grey's face Natsu slammed his head into the earth leaving a small crater. He felt the idiots blood fly out of his mouth and onto the palm of his hand but Natsu wasnt done yet. He tossed Grey into the air before spinning and landing a strong kick into his gut causing a small shockwave to emit from the blow and sending Grey crashing into the earth on the other side of the Crater. He turned to face the wide eyed blonde who he assumed was Lucy.

"You gonna try me to little girl?" he asked venom clearly lacing his voice. The girl rapidly shook her head before back away slightly. Natsu now turned to face Titania who had a look of rage on her face.

"Titania think about this before you do something stupid. I don't want to fight you anymore than you can win, you saw what I did to ice cube over there and you know what I can do when I want to. You need to calm down I don't want to fight anymore" Natsu tried to reason with the scarlet beauty but she wouldn't hear reason. She charged at Natsu making him quickly move out of the way before launching an attack at her now exposed rear. **"Crystal Dragon's Diamond Fist" **Natsu incited as he rammed his fist into the womans back sending her rocketing into the eath. Natsu noticed she was now out cold and sighed quietly. Stupid humans and their god damned pride.

Natsu looked up at the girl and the now flying blue cat who both looked exetremely scared "Help me carry these two would you, I'm pretty tired right now and I don't think I could hold them both" The two just looked at Natsu like he was insane. He just sighed, he probably was but hell he enjoyed it most of the time.

"Just pick up Grey I got Titania" he ordered now his eyes glinting with hidden steel making both of the other two salute and give a very shakey 'Aye!'. Natsu just shook his head before lifting the now immobile Erza onto his shoulder and climbing out of the crater to take hold of his gear. He was probably gonna regret this in the long run but its not like he had anything else to do. Besides he was tired of being by himself, he needed some sort of entertainment.

"U-u-m s-s-sir?" a tentative Lucy asked her hand raised

"Just call me Diamere" Natsu said with a small sigh " Whats up?" he asked

"Why are you taking us with you?"

Natsu stopped for a second before letting a smile grace his covered face making both Happy and Lucy look at one another a bit unsure of what that meant.

"You intrigue me, Fairy Tail"


	4. Reaching an Understanding

**Hey guys Ira here with the next update to Heart of Diamond! I really am enjoying this story so far and I am glad to see a lot of you guys are as well! I know that last chapters fight scene was not...well not really to much of a fight BUT It was more to introduce the characters to one another and to set things in motion than to display their fighting styles etc. There will be more and much longer and better fight scenes in the future so look forward to that! Anyways as always thanks for reading and don't forget to R&amp;R!**

**-IRA**

**Northern Fiore Forest with Natsu**

Natsu sat quietly with his legs crossed over the rough bark of the log he was currently sitting on. The flames from the fire he and Lucy as well as that cat had made was flickering in the darkness. Occasionally the fire would pop sending sparks bursting into the air leaving small trails of light in their wake as they floated up into the sky before vanishing without a trace. Natsu flitted his gaze for the millionth time in the direction of the two prone, and rather damaged, unconscious figures laying in their bedrolls after being carefully placed there.

These people they were...not normal people. Besides the fact that they were mages once Natsu had stated his attention to the two still conscious members of the merry band of Fairy Tailers they had just accepted it. They did not question him, although that may have been because he had just beaten two of their comrades senseless, and they went about their day as if it was just normal. Natsu moved his eyes to Lucy who was now attempting to strangle the blue flying cat to death for attempting to steal her food. Natsu felt a small genuine smile flicker across his lips for a second before he quickly returned to his usual stoic mask.

However despite how fast he had hidden his amusement the damn neko had spotted the small shifting of the mask and grinned mischievously before lazily floating his way over to Natsu.

"Did I just see a smiiiillleee" Happy said drawing out the i's longer than was necessary

"No" Natsu replied curtly hoping to avoid the obvious baiting the cat was attempting

"Yes you did! Lucy! Diamere smiled!" Happy shouted with glee before flying in circles around Natsu's head. A tick mark popped up on Natsu's head before he lost it and started trying to snatch the cat from the air. Lucy just laughed at the funny image of the usually calm and collected mage flailing his arms about in the air and shouting at the laughing cat.

"Come here you damn Neko!" Natsu shouted

"Catch me if you can!" Happy shouted before sticking out his tongue at the mage and continuing in his speedy circles around Natsu's head. Natsu stopped moving and took his time to analyze the cats movements. quickly Natsu darted out a hand and snatched the cat from the sky before putting him in a headlock and grinning evilly.

"Now time for your punishment" Natsu said his eyes glowing red as a dark purple aura started to sorround him.

"Luuuuuccccyyyyy heeelllpp meeee!" The cat shouted as large streams of tears flowed from his eyes comically.

"Uh-uh cat, you got yourself into this one don't come to me looking for a bail out" Lucy said amused at the scene before her. The cat got what he deserved. Natsu just laughed evilly before he gave the cat a nooky of a lifetime. Happy shouted and squirmed trying to break free but Natsu held firm as he furiously rubbed his knuckles over the top of the cats head. Lucy couldn't help but crack a grin at the sight. Natsu however realized that for the first time in a long time he felt...well happy. He was enjoying himself.

So preoccupied in his punishment of Happy and his own thoughts Natsu didn't notice that the two sleeping members of their party had woken up until the cold steel tip of a blade was pressed beneath his chin. Looking up Natsu released Happy who instantly rocketed into Lucy's lap and pulled out a bag of popcorn from nowhere to observe the scene. Natsu stood slowly his gaze cautiously observing Erza Scarlet as she pressed her sword even deeper into his neck forcing him to take a small step back.

"Is this how you treat the person that carried you all day while you took a nap?" Natsu said a small smirk forming beneath his mask.

"You. You use diamond magic" Erza hissed through her clenched teeth

"And?" Natsu asked a bit confused. What the hell was the significance of his type of magic have to do with the situation he was in.

"You are the Diamond King?" She responded angrily her grip tightening on the hilt of her sword in anger. Natsu sighed internally, of course that was why she was here.

"I am" he responded curtly

"How could you do that, all those villages were filled with innocents! How can you stand there so calm and mighty when you have the weight of all of those dead people resting on your shoulders!" Erza shouted. Now she stepped forward drawing her sword from Natsu's neck and grabbing a hold of his shirt.

"You know nothing Titania, do not presume that you understand me" Natsu hissed out, who the hell was this woman coming here and telling him that he had killed those people. No, he could never do that to anyone, least of all innocents no matter how much he hated humans.

"I know enough about you to know what you have done is inexcusable" she responded "You're a monster"

Natsu tensed. The word monster shot through his mind like a bullet ripping apart hundreds of blocked memories tearing them all open at once. All the feelings the emotions shot back into him with the force of a charging bull. Stumbling back slightly Natsu fell to his knees and quickly wrapped his hands around his head. Erza and the others just looked at Natsu confused, what the hell was wrong with him!

Natsu was lost inside his mind. Thousands of memories coursing through his brain. Titania's words had triggered a chain reaction, this was never meant to happen! These memories were meant to stay locked up behind his wall. Natsu slowly felt tears form on the corners of his eyes before they dripped to the ground. The small sound of gasping could be heard from around him but Natsu didn't care. Standing slowly he felt immeasurable rage towards Erza. Stepping forward with fury plainly showing in his eyes Natsu grabbed hold of Erza's neck and lifted her up till she was on her tip toes staring shocked into his eyes.

"I will say this once Titania so listen very, very closely. I do not care what you call me, may it be my name or Diamond king or criminal. I don't care if you insult me or judge me or call me names, but next time you call me a monster I will rip your skull from your body. You know I can do it just as well as I do so next time you yell at someone like that maybe you should think about what your saying." Natsu growled out lowly "I am not someone who comes easily to anger but you manage to bring out the worst in me Scarlet. I was having a good night as well before you came butting in with your talk of justice. You know nothing about me Scarlet" he said almost spitting out her name "The reasons I had for covering those villages in my crystals was not for revenge or from anger or even just blind blood lust. No I did that as a blessing, a relief! I did what I had to do to stop the world from seeing something it couldn't unsee" Natsu released Erza back onto her feet. All of the members of Fairy Tail just stood their eyes wide and faces shocked.

"I saved you from those villages Titania, because if you had seen what that man had done to them..." Natsu trailed off his voice breaking a little bit.

"You would not be the same"

Natsu finished his speech. The only noise now was the sound of the fire crackling and the wind blowing over the tops of the trees. Natsu shook his head slightly before walking over to his bags and picking them up and shrugging them back onto his shoulder.

"Your Welcome. Good luck with your journeys Titania, it seems I was wrong about Fairy Tail. You have nothing to offer after all" Natsu said his tone blunt and emotionless. Natsu was in fact in turmoil, over the years he had built of walls in his mind to block out certain memories using Mind Magic. If he hadn't he would quite literally be insane at this point, but Erza Scarlet had broken several of them and Natsu had to be in a state of emotionlessness to fix them again.

"You think I can just let you walk off" Erza said her voice stern but now laced with a small amount of concern

"You couldn't stop me if you tried Titania"

"Wait! D-Diamere , you said that Fairy Tail has nothing to offer? What did you mean by that?" Lucy said her voice quiet and timid at his outburst. Natsu stopped and turned around. Despite his attempts a bit of sadness leaked into his gaze.

"I thought you would be different, different from the rest of this world but clearly you think I am nothing but...inhuman, just like the rest of them" Natsu explained quietly

"That wasn't who we are Diamere" Erza spoke up this time her voice gentle now her eyes downcast "What I said to you was out of line, even if I was angry I should have never let myself lose control like that. I made assumptions without having the facts" she took a step forward before bowing slightly before a now shocked Natsu.

"If you would like to see what we have to offer we can take you back with us" Grey spoke now his gaze still cautious but definitely not hostile "To Fairy Tail"

Natsu turned his gaze back to Titania who was still bowing and not looking him in the eyes "What do you think Titania, should I go back with you to see if my assumptions were wrong?" he asked quietly his voice laced with uncertainty. Unlike the others these people had apologized, that in itself is rare. In fact no one had ever apologized to Natsu but his mother.

"I think...I think that I would love to have you come with us, not just to see that we are not like...like we were but to clear your name, if in fact you are innocent" Erza replied before looking up and smiling at Natsu. Natsu felt a small amount of warmth course through him as he observed Erza's smiling features. There was a kindness and understanding that there wasn't previously. Maybe he was right, Maybe they were different.

"Then" Natsu paused looking around at all their anticipating faces

"To Fairy Tail"


	5. On the Road

**Well hey there..this is kind of awkward but ayyeeeeee I'm back eheheheh. Sorry for literally the year long hiatus on this story but I am back and writing it again because I loved it so much. any Ideas and etc always are welcome and as always ENJOY! **

**\- Ira**

Natsu had walked for most of his life now that he took some time and actually thought about it. Ever since his mother had vanished he'd never stopped and never looked back. Of course this had lead to him holding a rather solitary life, one filled with his own thoughts and sulking but he'd never really thought that was necessarily a bad thing either. People weren't really his forte and travelling with his new found Fairy Tail companions slowly started to remind him why he was a secluded introvert.

"Happy knock off your crap you Neko bastard!" Natsu's clearly irritated voice sounded through the otherwise still air as he swatted at the flying cat for the thousandth time. Happy who had taken an almost instant liking to Natsu, much to his continual and blatant displeasure, never seemed to be able to leave the poor man alone. Constantly swirling about his head and singing like a broken record Natsu had finally began to reach his limit with the blue furred rodent.

"Learn to relax Diamere" Erza's slightly amused voice followed after Natsu while he swatted at the cat continuously the actions rather comical between the two like a never ending game of whack-o-mole "He's just trying to get a reaction from you, and by the looks of it hes doing rather well"

"Yeah its the only reaction we've gotten out of the bastard these past few days" Grey's low baritone voice sounded from beside Erza as he watched the two as well his voice clearly less amused. Lucy just held her usual kind smile as she watched the two dance about in a flurry of frustration and good intended humor. The Fairy Tail trio had started to take note of Natsu's rather seclusive mannerisms the past few days of travelling together. How he would sit slightly away from the rest of them at the fires while they ate and discussed matters, sometimes important and sometimes not. How he would walk a little ahead of the rest of the pack to avoid socialization or even just small talk. It became very clear very swiftly that Natsu was in fact not at all a people person.

"Lighten up Diamond guy!" Happy's cheery voice pushed into the ear of Natsu before the diamond bending Wizard narrowed his eyes in irritation and snagged his hand out snatching the Neko from the sky a dark aura surrounding him as he cackled maniacally holding the cat out in front of him.

"I've got you now you winged bastard"

"Erza help!" Happy whined and struggled in the laughing mans grasp before the scarlet haired wizard smacked him across the back of the head and took happy from his hands while he grumbled below his breath.

"You can't kill Happy Diamere hes friend not food" Erza stated plainly as she rubbed the top of Happy's sniffling head. Natsu just rolled his brilliant crystalline blue eyes and adjusted his hood and mask a little better before setting out at a slightly swifter pace to put distance between himself and the others once again. Erza frowning and rather fed up with this general response tossed happy back at Grey who almost stumbled off his feet in surprise swiftly walked up beside Natsu and began her inquiry that she had waited unnaturally long to make.

"Diamere...that's not your real name is it?" Her voice was rather soft she thought as she asked the plain tentative question awaiting the required response.

"No, it isn't" Natsu replied his tone clearly cut off somewhat signalling his intent on not telling her what it was.

"Then what is it?"

"You haven't earned it yet Scarlet" The mans usual cold tone of voice shot through the air rather quickly after her follow up question showing he clearly predicted it and had already made up his mind some time ago. Sighing just barely audible Erza just shook her head and continued on.

"Where are you from?"

"Somewhere"

"Where did you learn your magic?"

"My Master"

"How old are you?"

"My Age"

Erza finally fed up with his non answers stopped and snagged him by the collar of his coat her eyes boring into his own uncaring gaze as she let the silent waves of frustration pour off of her before making a small 'Tch' sound and released him shaking her head and looking forward resuming their silent walk. Natsu who looked rather unfazed by the sudden assault matched her pace evenly and they walked beside one another for what seemed like forever before his quiet voice rang through the air.

"I will answer your questions once I see that your Guild is all its made out to be Scarlet. Until then" He shifted his eyes over to her the mask lifting just a little to show the smallest hint of a smile "Patience. Learn it." Stepping forward he put some distance between the two again and she looked after him shocked. Not by his response, or even his smile. No she couldn't stop herself from smiling as realization slapped her across the face.

He had just made a joke.

**By the way guys yes im aware that this chapter is rather short its just kind of a probing sort of thing to see how many people actively follow this story and really do want me to continue it so let me know ok! Love ya all have a good day!**


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